By James Raia
Elvis Presley loved a lot of things, including an intense passion for cars and trucks. The King of Rock and Roll owned a De Tomaso Pantera and a three-wheel Messerschmitt. He also owned three 1967 GMC pickup trucks, purchased new and simultaneously.
One of the trucks purchased from Guy Caldwell Motors in Senatobia, Miss., will be up for auction February 27 by GAA Classic Cars in Greensboro, N.C.
The truck’s odometer shows approximately 83,000 miles, believed to be original. Furthermore, the truck reportedly is in good working order.
Elvis Presley bought three 1967 GMC pickup trucks
The truck is offered with a letter of authenticity from the Elvis Presley Enterprises. It indicates the half-ton truck was sold by Vernon Presley, Elvis Presley’s father, in 1968, to Haynes Motors in Maryland.
A copy of the title application is also included. Haynes is listed as the second owner of the green-painted pickup after Elvis Presley.
The head mechanic at Haynes repaired the standard-cab pickup. He drove it for a few years, then sold it to Mr. Richards in Pensacola, Fla. In 1986, a family bought the truck for use in an Elvis-themed museum.
The rear-wheel truck has an inline six-cylinder engine and a column-mounted stick shift. It was professionally restored four years ago with the period-correct paint. In addition, the signatures of Jay Leno and Blake Sheldon are on the dashboard.
According to the auction house, the truck formerly owned by Elvis Presley has “too many parts to list.” Further, it also says the “original parts [are] boxed up and ready to go.”
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James Raia, a syndicated columnist in Sacramento, California, publishes a free weekly automotive podcast and electronic newsletter. Sign-ups are available on his website, www.theweeklydriver.com. He can be reached via email: james@jamesraia.com.
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The three-wheel Messer Schmitt is the one he owned when he lived on Audubon Dr in Memphis. This was his first house in Memphis and it was a few blocks from where I was living as a teenager. A friend and I went over to try and see Elvis but only his mother was there. She invited us in to wait for him and I sat in the three-wheel Messer Schmitt in his carport. We had to leave before he came home.